The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 6, 1995- 17B CIV:A band with no se forlast naes By Ted Watts Daily Arts Writer MTV recently put an unassum- ing New York band named CIV in their "Buzz Bin." The video for "Can't Wait One Minute More" features the band in a talk show type setting, complete with audi- ence and special guests. x Frontman and vocalist Civ seems to be the host, running around in a suit and smiling, his shiny head beaming out positive energy. So how does being buzzed affect a band? "So far I haven't really been affected by it," said Civ, "because we've kinda been out on the road and haven't seen what's happen- ing. The hopeful effect is the abil- ity to tour more, play to different crowds, the ability to have differ- ent people see the video and buy the record." "I've seen it like once," ex- plained guitarist Charlie. "People are talking about it, but it's not like we're sitting at home going 'Oh! There's our video."' But other people are seeing the video, and so CIV is getting atten- tion. In the video, Civ looks like the happiest hardcore guy in the world. "Everybody says that," confirmed Civ. "Like, 'You're smiling so hard.' It was a long day, but I was having fun." "He was trying to remember the words," laughed Charlie. "We'd just finished recording the song, so I didn't remember the words." Charlie explained the speed with which the video came to frui- tion: "The whole thing happened so quick. "A friend of ours directed the video, and he'd never directed a video before. He'd worked in com- mercials. He came to our apart- ment and pitched the whole idea. We just did it for fun, cuz we had this seven inch on Revelation Records, and next thing you know we were all in the studio with our friends shooting this video. We all chipped in to get it done. He cashed in all his favors to get a crew and a set together." "We weren't taking it seriously like 'We have this big budget, what if it looks like shit?"' con- tinued Civ. "After 13, 14 hours I was a little punch drunk from dancing around like an idiot." CIV doesn't only have a video with some success, but a great CD cover on their album "Set Your Goals" as well. Consisting of de- sign elements and colors from the '50s, the cover pictures the band in a rear view mirror with fuzzy dice hanging from it. "Those were my fuzzy dice, and they were stolen by the layout people," said Civ. "Those were the only fuzzy dice I had, and I never got them back." Thievery aside, CIV seems to have as potent a visual represen- tation as an aural one. With a video possessing sufficient visual merit to be buzzed and such a smooth cover, CIV must attract visual art- ists like flies. But what are C : s Uusical roots? Civ listened to "':arisus t ings from the Cro Mags to th Descen- dants. I used to listen to the Smiths a lot, or '50s type of stuff, rockabilly, metal. Old Sabbath and stuff like that." Charlie differs a bit. "I listen to a lot of English bands. Blur, Supergrass, stuff like that. I still listen to a lot of Minor Threat, that stuff that I'm into." As for the here and now, Charlie had this to say: "The scene in New York is really happening with hardcore, the new hardcore thing that's going on. Keep an eye on it." Not that everything's copacetic. One song on "Set Your Goals," "Soundtrack for Violence," is di- rected against pit brutality. "Dancing hard is OK," said Charlie, "but you've got to look out for each other. Don't be a Civ (front middle) of CIV is the happiest hardcore guy in the world. bully, or punch people in the back of the head." Stf1, for the mjiost part CIV seems pretty happy. They're from a healthy scene and MTV is not averse to them. Maybe if everyone is very good, they'll replace Green Day. on the youth popularity circuit and we can all sleep a little bit better. RECORDS Continued from page 161 nine inch nails Further Down the Spiral nothing/Interscope It's a new Nine Inch Nails remix album that has the price of a single. But don't be fooled, it clocks in at well over an hour and boasts a fine cast ofpeople who aren't Trent Reznor mucking about with NIN songs. The first track, "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" features engi- neering by Barkmarket frontman Dave Sardy as well as guitars by Dave Navarro of you-know-who making for a cool loopy sound. Other artists ofnote include ambientwizard Aphex Twin creating "At the Heart of It All" and part B of "The Beauty of Being Numb" in his very non-NIN yet still appropos way. J. G. Thirwell ofFoetus fame remixed "Self Destruction Part Two" and "Self Destruction Final" in his energetic style. The best track is "Eraser (Polite)," a nearly lullaby version of the song with Reznor's voice dominating the song and it overlapping itself in a beautiful and almost alien manner. This is one of three tracks that were in some unexplained manner related to John Balance, Peter Christopherson and Drew McDowall of Coil with Danny Hyde. They seem hell-bent on creating delicate evil songs, and suc- ceed well in their endeavour. All in all, it's pretty good. Unfor- tunately, the more pricey import ver- sion has several different songs, in- cluding a live version of "Hurt" that fans will certainly want. Well, we can't have everything. - Ted Watts HI-Five Hi-Five Greatest Hits Jive Records No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. The five-man (once, five- teen) group, Hi-Five, has produced a greatest hits record after only three gold LPs. These Waco, Texas natives (not related to the Branch Davidian bunch) have sang some legitimate hits inthe past including the semi-fast "I Like the Way," the slow and beau- tiful "I Can't Wait Another Minute" andthenice, smooth-sounding"Never Should've Let You Go," (from the "Sister Act II" soundtrack). These songs can be found in this "Greatest Hits" CD, as well as nine other songs. While this CD has its legitimate hits, including "She's Playing Hard toGet" and "Quality Time,"."Hi-Five Greatest Hits" also has its share of songs that'll make you go, "huh?" The inclusion of such musical stink bombs as "What Can I Say to You" (also featuring Nuttin' Nyce of"Down 4 Whatever" fame), "That Was Then, This Is Now" and "She Said" suggest that this CD was put out moreso to make a quick buck than to honestly tout Hi-Five as the musical power- house it very well could be. But why would Jive Records do that? Hi-Five could produce another release, right? Maybe not. Already, member Tony Thompson is getting much airplay of his solo debut "I Wanna Love Like That." This solo attempt by Thompson, as well as the release of this "Greatest Hits" CD, could very well be the signal to Hi- Five lovers everywhere that the group may not be around much longer. - Eugene Bowen The Young Gods Only Heaven Interscope Records If you like ambientnew wave from Switzerland, you're gonna like the Young Gods. You have tried Swiss ambient new wave, haven't you? Well, this is as good as anyplace to start. A beautiful yet strong album, "Only Heaven" is everything Ameri- can music never was. "Donnez Les Esprit" especially takes some great ambient and overlays it with some inspired gutted vocals. Despite the apparent inanity ofthe line "For those of us living in the cloud, is it blue?", it is voiced in quite possibly the per- feet way, expressing a certain amount of sadness and wonder while at the same time possessing an almost evil element. It's anall too short six minute and 15 second experience. That is balanced out by the con- siderably longer "Moon Revolutions." At longer than 15 minutes, it is a wonder that the song doesn't bore. Based on a strong beat, the track sim- ply progresses, then changes dramati- cally to quiet keyboard strains which vary to almost warlike violence. "Only Heaven" is a fine album which reaches towards various ele- ments of the musical stew. At times violent, at times beautiful, it is often both. What more does there need to be? - Ted Watts Mercy Rule Providence Relativity Records "Don't ask me what I believe in/ Right now it's everything," shrieks Heidi Ore in the title song of Mercy Rule's "Providence". In spite of its ambiguity, that statement reveals a lot about Mercy Rule. Even though their music has the guitar buzz of a typical modern-rock band, they are the antithesis to the majority of alter- native bands, those ones content to whine about how little they believe in. That's a refreshing stance, but unfortunately "Providence" fails to translate it into meaningful music. Bassist/singer Ore dominates most of it with her acidic growl, a wild, un- tamed instrument that either connects emotionally with the songs or comes off as histrionic. On the best songs ("HeyNow" and"Stumble"), she rides triumphant tides of melody to power- ful effect. A whole record full of songs like those would be worth some attention, but "Providence" goes flat about halfway through with songs that grind loudly but make no impact. - Brian Duignan Keith Martin it's long overdue Ruffhouse Records I don't know where this magic dust that flying about in the 1995' atmosphere that's slowly healing a rather seriously ailing R&B market came from, but whatever it is, I hope it doesn't dissipate. Only a few months ago, this dust brought us Chicago native, Jesse, with his amaz- ing debut release, "Never Let You Go." Now we have singer extraordinaire Keith Martin kicking out from beneath some obscure rock to share with us what that stingy piece of granite has had to itself for much too long - 14 of the most beautiful cuts in recent R&B history, packaged together under the very truthful title, "it's long overdue." I can't think of a single bad thing to say about Martin or his debut LP. This man's voice is so smooth, any negative comment hurled at it would simply slide off and away into noth- ingness. If you want to improve your modern R&B collection a thousand- fold, this is the CD to get. If you've never owned an R&B CD, there's no time like the present. From its mesmerizing music to the harmonious background singers to the ethereal majesty and beauty of Martin's alto-dripping voice, "it's long overdue" is R&B perfection incarnate. KeithMartin will give your CD player's repeat button the most use it has ever seen. -Eugene Bowen Speedball Do Unto Others, Then Split Energy Local boys make good. Detroit's veteran hard rock heroes score with national indie Energy Records. But there's always that fear that comes with local bands signingup for the big time: "Is there a God?" Oops, make that "Even though they're from De- troit, could it suck?" But thank God, Speedball delivers a rush of much needed high dose rock 'n' roll jolt to the system (that was what we rock critics call aplay on the band's name.) Maybe you've heard "Hog" on 89X, and were surprised that straight ahead biker rock was back in vogue. As that single and other rebel outlaw songs like "Gypsy" prove, the cliche of "beer-soaked three chord rockers" can still be effective. No punk. No thrash. No dreamy alternative. No industrial. Simple effective rock mu- sic about the road and women, varied enough to escape tedium but still working off the tried and true formula of three chords and an amp that goes to 11. Chuck Berry did it, Kiss did it, the Ramones still do it, andnow Speedball makes a welcome addition to the genre. - Kirk Miller Various Artists Barnyard Beat Rhino Records Ever wonder what a group of dogs gathered together to bark out "Wild Thing" would sound like? Or, what if a variety of animals teamed up to perform "The Lion Sleeps Tonight?" To satisfy these pressing questions, we now have "Barnyard Beat," a 12- cut CD which features songs sung in every language not known to the hu- man species. Barks, meows, grunts, neighs, clucks and moos are the only sounds you'll hear coming from this Rhino Records release. Puns are the order of the day, as you'll soon realize. Only Rhino would consider grouping cats to- gether under the title Mew Kids on the Block and having them perform Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Al- most famous names like Ewe 2, Lion L. Richie, The Red Hot Chili Dogs and Cuds N' Roses are other humor- ous inventions of some obviously twisted Rhino workers. "Barnyard Beat" has won, hands down, the title for most unusual release this century. While no DJ in his or her right mind would play a song from this CD at any event other than Pee Wee Herman's birthday extravaganza (to appear on MTV, of course), it can be guaranteed that this CD will have you in stitches while leaving one nagging question in the back of your mind: Why is it that these computerized animals sound better growling the songs than you do singing them? - Eugene Bowen X-Cops You Have the Right to Re- main Silent... Metal Blade From the people who brought you Gwar comes the X-Cops, a beauti- fully disgusting project. The band is made up of evil has-been police offic- ers, the songs are their skewed take on their world, and you are the object of their twistedness. For instance, "Cavity Search" con- tains the line "But Iam here to protect the souls / Of the people who pay me to look up your hole." More to the point, and found in the songs title, is "You Fucked Up," a tune detailing the various mistakes you've made and the consequences this merits with the police. The core ofthe album is its heavily laden metal licks, performed by art students at Slave Pit Productions. Often slower and more grinding than related band Gwar, X-Cops delivers some great over the top music and lyrics to accompany their stage pres- ence. So get the album and let loose some aggressions. Go to the track "The Party's Over" and swing out to the words "Sacrifice a goat, slit your fucking throat/That's rightpunk, I'm also onjunk." It's like there's a horror comic inmy CD player and everyone's invited! - Ted Watts Various Artists Tube Tuzes of/he 70's & 80's (volumes 1-3) Rhino Records Listening to the credit songs of some of the most well-known shows of the 70s and 80s, like the Maude theme (sung by Donny Hathaway) and The Jeffersons (Ja'net Dubois and Oren Waters), I feel very old. Other than the sick feeling of buying dentures and no longer being interested in sex, "Tube Tunes" of- fers nothing but nostalgia and back- ground music for answering machine messages. Think about how many of them will be able to treat you to The Facts of Life or Good Times - Eugene Bowen Wayman Tisdale Power Forward MoJazz Records "I think this album is going to surprise some people," Tisdale once said. Considering the legacy of pro- fessional athletes turned pathetic musician it would, and should, come as a surprise that this 6'9", 260-pound member of the Phoenix Suns roster is a stellar bassist. MoJazz knowsjazz, and company President Steve McKeever's signing Tisdale onto the label is proof."Power Forward" is one of the most emotion- ally fulfilling jazz releases since "Buckshot LeFonque," and unlike the latter, Tisdale relies exclusively on jazz's melodic flow sometimes inter- mingled with the soul-paralyzing melodiousness of R&B. "Circumstance," the CD's first of 13 cuts, immediately establishes "Power Forward" as a must-hear release. The title track, as well as the cut "Gabrielle," will tug at you, not only through the sounds of Tisdale's bass, but also (and even moreso) through the power of guest jazz artist Kenny Garrett whose saxophone abilities would turn the most obstinate person into a Garrett groupie. On the vocal side, Tisdale was sure to work with the best. He produced "You," arguably the CD's best song, with R&B artist extraordinaire Brian McKnight. Though Tisdale's vocal prowess isn't all that great, he still doesa pretty decent job singing background in "Jazz in You" and "Amazing Grace." When comic Jamie Foxx released the R&B-filled "Peep This," many criticized it as another Eddie Murphy-type flop. It wasn't. Now, Wayman Tisdale, the Jamie Foxx of professional sports, has produced something which makes up for the obviously lacking musical (if you want to call it that) attempts made by athletes like Dion Sanders and Shaquille O'Neal. Maybe there's some hope after all. - Eugene Bowen See RECORDS, page 18B Career opportunities at J.P. Morgan filr I iiI'ersiv lofI)ichir2a r bmsiness SlIudCeits (ande1C172'iYIl"I') intereste d in Audit Plus Please plan to attend our inrformiation presentation on ' I I